Hard-pressed fresh produce sector under scrutiny
The consolidation of the fresh produce sector was discussed at an Oxford Farming Conference. Attention was drawn to the vegetable sector in particular, which is down to a handful of businesses with massive turnovers and massive amounts of risk, operating on wafer-thin margins of often 1% to 2%. Chief Executive of the British Growers Association, Jack Ward, summed up that the whole sector has been stripped of any superfluous activity.…